Photo: Dorwart, Mike (uploader)
OMAHA, Nebraska -- A survey of Midwest business managers slips into negative territory in the month of July.
"In fact rivaling the lows we've seen in the national number, indicating a significant slowdown in the manufacturing sector of the nine Mid-America states that would be below growth-neutral," says Creighton University Economics Professor Ernie Goss.
He says the Mid-America Business Conditions Index for July is 46.1--down from June's reading of 50.8. In the Index's 0-100 scale, a reading of 50 is considered growth-neutral.
Goss says the Index had been above growth-neutral for five straight months.
"This is the lowest overall reading since the beginning of the pandemic in May 2020," Goss says.
He also says he thinks July's Mid-America Business Conditions Index results also means a recession is still possible sometime before the end of the year.
"I think the optimism we're seeing in national surveys right now is a bit overdone. The economy is just not going to expand at the current expectations of investors and politicians," Goss says.
The Mid-America Business Conditions Index is survey of business managers in Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.